# ITAT appeal under Form 36 — complete 2026 walkthrough _Published 2026-04-11T09:00:00.000Z · Updated 2026-05-11T15:38:59.568Z · By Aniruddh Atrey_ Canonical: https://www.courtnetra.com/blog/itat-form-36-walkthrough Category: Tax practice Tags: ITAT, Form 36, Income Tax appeal, tax litigation, CIT(A) --- > A practical 2026 walkthrough of filing an Income Tax appeal at the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal under Form 36 — eligibility, fee structure, attachments, and post-filing procedure. ![Financial charts and tax documents on a desk — the world of direct-tax litigation](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1554224155-6726b3ff858f?w=1600&h=900&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop) Form 36 under the Income Tax Act 1961 is the appeal memorandum filed before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT). For working tax counsel in 2026 — assessees fighting CIT(A) orders, departments fighting deletion of additions, both sides cross-objecting — Form 36 is the most-filed memo in the tax-litigation calendar. This post is the practical walkthrough. ## When Form 36 lies Form 36 is the appeal under Section 253 of the Income Tax Act 1961, before the ITAT, against: - An order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)] passed under Section 250 or 154 (rectification) - An order of the Principal Commissioner / Commissioner under Section 263 or 264 - An order under Section 271 by the Assessing Officer (in certain cases) - An order of the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) under Section 246A (post-Faceless Appeal regime) Eligibility is broad — both the assessee and the department can appeal. Cross-objections are filed by Form 36A. ## Limitation Section 253(3): the appeal must be filed **within 60 days** of the date of communication of the order under appeal. Section 253(5) allows the ITAT to condone delay on sufficient cause being shown. Two practical points: - The 60-day period runs from communication, not from the order date. Document service date carefully. - Condonation is discretionary and increasingly tightly granted. Filing within 60 days is the safe rule. ## Fees Section 253(6) prescribes the fee structure: - **Total income up to ₹1 lakh (assessed)** — ₹500 - **₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh** — ₹1,500 - **Above ₹2 lakh** — 1% of the assessed income, capped at ₹10,000 - **Stay applications** — ₹500 each The fee is paid via the Income Tax Department's e-payment system; the challan is annexed with Form 36. For the department side, fees are not payable. ## Form 36 — what to fill Form 36 is a structured form. The key fields: - **Cause-title.** Appellant's name, PAN, and AY in standard format. - **Order under appeal.** AO's name, order date, AY, and reference number. - **Grounds of appeal.** This is the substantive section. Each ground states a specific contention with reference to the order under appeal. Format: "The CIT(A) erred in law and on facts in upholding the addition of ₹X under Section Y by failing to consider Z." - **Statement of facts.** A concise chronology — when the AO passed the assessment order, what additions were made, what the CIT(A) did, what survives in appeal. - **Reliefs sought.** Typically (i) deletion of additions, (ii) consequent re-computation of total income. - **Verification.** Signed by the assessee (or authorised representative under Section 288). Drafting note: keep grounds atomic — one issue per ground. Conjoint grounds ("The CIT(A) erred in upholding the addition of ₹X and ₹Y...") get demerit-marked at the time of hearing because the bench likes to dispose of grounds individually. ## Attachments Standard Form 36 annexures: - Memo of appeal (Form 36 itself, in duplicate) - Order under appeal (CIT(A) order; one certified copy) - Order of the AO (assessment order; one copy) - Notice of demand under Section 156 (where applicable) - Power of attorney / authorisation in favour of the AR (if appearance is by an AR) - Fee challan (assessee side) - Index of documents Optional but recommended: - Statement of facts (concise; 2-3 pages max) - Synopsis of grounds (legal frame; 3-5 pages) - Compilation of judgments relied on - Computation of disputed income (if quantum is in issue) ## Filing — physical and e-filing In 2026, ITAT e-filing is widely adopted: - Most ITAT benches accept e-filing through the ITAT e-filing portal - Some bench-specific requirements remain — Mumbai and Delhi benches have higher-volume e-filing usage; smaller bench cities are still partial The e-filing flow is structured: - Login to the ITAT e-filing portal with the AR's credentials - Create a new appeal — fill the Form 36 fields, upload annexures - Pay the fee online (challan is auto-stitched into the package) - Submit; an acknowledgement number is generated - The physical filing (where required for that bench) is then scheduled For benches that still require physical filing alongside e-filing, the printed Form 36, fee challan, and annexures are filed at the bench registry within 7 days of e-filing acknowledgement. ## Post-filing procedure Once Form 36 is filed: - **Notice of hearing** is issued by the bench — typically within 8-12 weeks for new appeals. - **Cross-objections (Form 36A)** by the respondent are due within 30 days of receipt of the notice. - **Stay applications** under Section 254(2A) — can be filed at any time after Form 36 to stay recovery of the disputed demand. Hearing typically within 30-60 days. - **Hearing.** Usually a single hearing for substantive disposal in routine matters; complex matters can stretch over multiple hearings. - **Order.** ITAT orders are typically pronounced 4-12 weeks after hearing. ## Common drafting mistakes **Conjoint grounds.** As noted — keep one issue per ground. **Stale annexures.** Submitting an outdated CIT(A) order copy that doesn't include all pages. Verify before annexing. **Wrong fee.** The 1% rule is on assessed income, not declared income. Check the assessment order for assessed total income before computing fee. **Missing AR authorisation.** When an Authorised Representative appears, the Section 288 authorisation must be on file. Many practitioners submit late and lose hearing time. **Stay-application strategy errors.** Filing stay-application together with Form 36 helps but is not always best. Sometimes deferring stay until after notice of hearing produces better outcomes — depends on the demand quantum and timing. ## How CourtNetra prepares Form 36 CourtNetra's e-filing assistance includes ITAT Form 36, Form 35 (for CIT(A) appeals), and Form 36A (cross-objections). The flow: - Open the matter — assessee details, PAN, AY, ITR series are read from matter fields. - Pick "ITAT — Form 36" filing template. - The template pre-fills cause-title, order-under-appeal section, fee computation, AR authorisation reference. - Grounds and statement of facts are drafted in the editor with NyayaLens AI suggesting precedent for the legal frame. - Fee challan is computed and validated. - Package is generated as a PDF ready for ITAT e-filing portal upload (where supported). ## The bottom line Form 36 is mechanical when you've filed five and inscrutable when it's your first. The 60-day limitation, the fee structure, and the grounds-anchored drafting style are all repeatable patterns. Tax counsel teams that build a tight Form 36 workflow handle a 100-appeal portfolio with the same effort a smaller team handles 20. For Indian tax practice in 2026, the standard approach is: structured matter records, pre-built templates, ITAT e-filing where available, and AI-assisted precedent search for the legal frame. CourtNetra implements that approach end-to-end.